MEET FRANK OSHANUGOR
By Frank Oshanugor
After a few weeks of undisclosed illness, the Presidency today announced the death of Nigeria’s Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Lt.General Taoreed Abiodun Lagbaja. He passed on at the age of 56.
In a press statement to the media, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga
said the COAS “passed away on Tuesday night in Lagos after a period of illness.”
Born on February 28, 1968, Lt. General Lagbaja was appointed Chief of Army Staff on June 19, 2023, by President Tinubu less than one month after his assumption of office as Nigeria’s President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.
Lagbaja’s distinguished military career began when he enrolled in the Nigerian Defence Academy in 1987. On September 19, 1992, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Nigerian Infantry Corps as a member of the 39th Regular Course.
Throughout his service, he demonstrated exceptional leadership and commitment, serving as a platoon commander in the 93 Battalion and the 72 Special Forces Battalion.
He played pivotal roles in numerous internal security operations, including Operation ZAKI in Benue State, Lafiya Dole in Borno, Udoka in Southeast Nigeria, and Operation Forest Sanity across Kaduna and Niger States.
An alumnus of the prestigious United States Army War College, Lt. General Lagbaja earned a Master’s degree in Strategic Studies, demonstrating his dedication to professional growth and excellence in military leadership. He is survived by his beloved wife, Mariya, and their two children.
Meanwhile, President Tinubu has expressed his heartfelt condolences to the family and the Nigerian Armed Forces during this difficult time just as he has wished Lt. General Lagbaja eternal peace and honours his significant contributions to the nation.
The late COAS had been away from the public space until a section of the media went to town with speculated stories about his whereabouts.
Sometime in October, the Army Headquarters through its spokesman Major-General Onyema Nwachukwu said that Lagbaja was on leave and that arrangements were in place to ensure that there was no vacuum in his absence. The military could not initially tell the type of leave he had gone for, whether it was the normal annual leave, study leave or medical leave.
As his absence was almost becoming a national embarrassment, President Tinubu on Tuesday 5th November appointed Lt-General Olufemi Oluyede as the Acting Chief of Army Staff.
While Nigerians mourn the death of Lagbaja, his passage comes less than four years after his penultimate predecessor Lt-General Ibrahim Attahiru died in a plane crash along with nine other senior military officers.
On May 22, 2021 General Attahiru who was serving under the then President Muhammadu Buhari as COAS were killed when their plane crashed at Kaduna Airport due to what the military described as “inclement weather.”
